Mount Eerie

Phil Elverum and Nick Krgovich have to be two of Cascadias more distinctive singer/songwriterly voices, and both have traveled long, circuitous paths to arrive at their current incarnations. Elverum has evolved from the epic yet insular acoustic explorations of the Microphones to the black metal-influenced black wooden sound of recent Mount Eerie records, maintaining and revising his early awestruck view of nature, the universe, and the self into something altogether less hopeful. Vancouver, B.C.s Krgovich made his name with deceptively quiet orchestral act P:ano but his recent projects have increasingly incorporated influences from modern R&B (No Kids) and vintage Brill Building pop (Gigi); his new solo 7-inch It Was Never You continues more in the former vein, going so far as slather its chorus in reedy Autotune. Together (and with Krgovich playing in Elverums backing band), they are not to be missed. With Key Losers. ERIC GRANDY